IND vs NZ 2nd Test: KL Rahul, Mohammed Siraj dropped; Washington Sundar replaces Kuldeep Yadav

IND vs NZ 2nd Test: KL Rahul, Mohammed Siraj dropped (BCCI Photo)

IND vs NZ 2nd Test: The second Test between India and New Zealand in Pune saw the hosts make wholesale change in the playing XI. On expected lines KL Rahul was dropped from the playing XI and he was joined by Mohammed Siraj. Rahul was under the radar for long and his flop show in both essays of the Bengaluru Test, which India conceded by 8 wickets, made his case worse. Siraj, on the other hand, failed to do much with the new ball in both the innings in Bengaluru despite the conditions favouring seamers.

Rahul, was one of the five batters dismissed for duck, in the first innings of the Bengaluru Test as India were folded for 46, their third lowest total in Tests. Rahul then managed just 12 in the next. Siraj, on the other hand, managed two wickets in the opening Test.

Joining the list of players dropped was Kuldeep Yadav. The Chinaman had a decent outing but India opted for Washington Sundar in the second encounter with an aim to add depth in their batting. Rahul and Siraj were replaced by Shubman Gill and Akash Deep. Gill was not 100 percent fit for the opening encounter.

Meanwhile, New Zealand also made one change as Tom Latham during the toss informed Matt Henry was ruled out due to a niggle and hoped he'll be fit for the third match, which starts from November 1 in Mumbai. He is replaced by Mitchell Santner, who can prove to be handy both with the bat and ball, especially in spinning conditions.

Captains speak:

Rohit Sharma: "When you play a Test match like that, the first session didn't go our way. But we batted well in the second innings. We take a lot of positives from that and see how we can turn things around here. Always want to find ways to get back into the Test match when you're behind. That's what we did.

"Pitch is a little drier. We do understand how important the first 10 overs are."

Tom Latham: "Surface slightly different to what it was last week. Not a lot of grass. Might produce a bit of spin as we expect when we come to these parts of the world. It's just about adapting to this surface. Trying to take the confidence we built up from last week."